The Corner-Oct. 2

10/2/2009
Wild card still great


Wild Card
Still Great
I have said it before, and will again, that the wild card system in professional baseball is one of the best inventions in the sporting world in the last 20 years.
For many years teams out of the divisional race were already getting ready for winter break and looking down the road to spring training. Now, several at least have some reason to maintain hope, thanks to this great system of competition.
Any Braves fan will tell you they’re enjoying this year’s chase, I promise that.
The system is giving a little more life to a career that is quickly winding down. Bobby Cox is a hero to Braves fans of the ’80s and ’90s, taking the team to the World Series in 1991 after so many years of less than mediocre performances. Only a few lucky breaks for Kirby Puckett and the Minnesota Twins kept that team from the championship.
If memory serves that was before the wild card was in place. It was also in the days before expansion, when the Braves were in the weird position of playing in the National League West.
The end of the season usually meant keep a close eye on Dodger Stadium or Candlestick Park to see how the Dodgers or Giants were doing. There was no hope if the first-place team didn’t falter.
Cox announced earlier this month he will hang up his cleats after one more season. Somebody better clear out a space on the wall in Cooperstown for the plaque bearing his likeness. The strange system of choosing hall of fame members never guarantees anyone entry into baseball’s holiest shrine, but I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more than Cox.
That would be even more true if the wildcard system leads to a World Series title this year.
The Braves aren’t the only ones who benefit from the wild card this year. When was the last time you heard the words Texas Rangers in playoff talk late in September. It happened this year, thanks to the wild card.
Raleigh’s own Josh Hamilton at least had a chance to show off his skills on a big stage. That would have been a great curtain call to what I call one of the great stories in baseball of this decade.
I have to say I am disappointed the Rangers won’t be there in the postseason even though I have always called the Red Sox my favorite American League team. The fact they were as close as they were gives hope to fans of the Pirates, Nationals, Mariners and other long-suffering squads who just haven’t been able to put it together.
Even though they have been there before, it is good to see the Colorado Rockies back in the playoff hunt, even if they are the ones who are competing against the Braves.
They are one of the four newest teams in the league and have turned into one of the most successful in the time they have been in the league. They have, of course, had their down years, but overall I would have to say they have been successful, at least considering how hard it is to blend into the league as an expansionteam. Hats off once again to baseball’s wild card season. It has turned a good season great and given fans a way to warm up for October.